creative pursuits in the kitchen, garden, library and sewing room

playing with HSTs

My mother-in-law has had this double wedding ring quilt as a layer on the bed in the guest bedroom for as long as I can remember. My husband is fond of its red/aqua combo, so I thought I’d explore that color pairing in my next project.

I recently came across this brilliant video from the Missouri Star Quilt Company demonstrating a quick and easy way to crank out half-square triangles (HSTs)–it’s genius!

This video and the multitude of HSTs made me remember a gorgeous HST quilt by Mary Fons that I saw in Quilty last summer:

Inspiration!

The Pink Waves quilt is made up of 2 1/2″ squares–the idea of making over 1200 little HST squares is mind blowing to me. I decided to start with 7-inch squares of fabric to end up with 4 1/2-inch HST squares (finished size: 4 inches), which works out this way:

beginning square size x 0.64 = HST size

I found this clever equation on That Girl That Quilt. Jennifer offers a clear explanation of various HST techniques and tips that you can read here.

I have gotten to work. My aqua and reds are more vibrant than those in my MIL’s quilt, but I like bright colors that give a visual jolt–they match our current hot temps. I am hoping that this project will tame my red fabric stash, which is teetering on the ridiculous!

You have keen eyes! Yes, my poor JA quilt is languishing here, waiting for me to piece a back. I think I have found the right fabric for it–I just need to get it done!
As for the colors in my MIL’s quilt, it seems that everything old is new again. We’ll see if that mauve/grey combo from the post-modern 1980s ever returns.